RESEARCH PROJECT RED GORGONIAS (Paramuricea clavata)

It all started when we asked our friends Hrvoje and Mosor over and over again about the red Gorgonian, which really form large forests in Murter area. It turned out that very little information has been scientifically collected and documented about these red sea fan gorgonian.

The reason is simple – sea grass (Posidonia) is easy to investigate and almost in each bay you find an ongoing project. Why? Posidonia grows in shallow depths (10m) while you need to dive at least 35m to discover the shadow-loving (sciaphilic) Gorgonian. One needs an experienced dive team to gather reliable data in such greater depths.

In October 2007 a project was started under the coordination of eco-organization “Argonauta” together with Marine explorers society "20.000 LEAGUES".
The aim is the mapping of four specific sites in the National Park of Kornati. In the project following information is collected and documented: the precise position, depth, density of the population, size and angle of growth of the corals. The data will be published in a GIS map.
Further participants are the NGOs “BIUS”  and

"Oceanus". Our dive center NAJADA provides boats and dive gear for the project.
The Dutch and Finnish Embassies in Croatia have allocated funds for the mission.

During our first project in October 2007 we already faced challenges: we were investigating the sea fan Gorgonian in Purara, a completely protected and untouched island in National Park Kornati. The Gorgonia population in Purara sets the standard for the species, since in Purara everything is protected and boat traffic, fisching, diving and swimming is strictly forbidden (we have a special permission for 12 months to investigate this area). Paramuricea clavata grows here exactly from 40 meters onward. One has to count disciplined and fast to avoid endless decompression times…

Many questions are open: how fast do the Gorgonians grow? According the literature the sea fan Gorgonian grow only on steep hills and drop-offs below 35m, where they have enough shade. Our divers know however, that in both Babuljasis the Gorgonian grow on practically flat ground already on 25m, why? In some publications the authors refer to currents, but then again, in Murter and the surroundings we hardly have stronger currents at all!

This project will certainly not answer all our questions, but it is a fascinating start for further investigations. On the 20th of April we start again the next round with Marine biologists and hope that the weather will be on our side. We want to use the opportunity to engage also our guest divers in the project and invite you to participate at least in the discussions after the dives, if you do not want to join in the mapping process.